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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27591931">Dreamwalking</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fayr/pseuds/Fayr'>Fayr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:36:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,792</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27591931</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fayr/pseuds/Fayr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After Riley left, Buffy started having bad dreams again.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Riley Finn/Buffy Summers, Rupert Giles/Buffy Summers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Dreamwalking</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After Riley left, Buffy started having bad dreams again. </p>
<p>Giles leaned forward, chalking lines into the floor of his bedroom. His hair was lightly tousled from distractedly running his hands through it as he cross-referenced symbols. Chalk dusted his sweats and the tips of his fingers, and he used the heel of his palm to wipe away a mistake.</p>
<p>When Buffy has bad dreams it can either be like, regular bad, or premonition-y bad. Since they started after Riley left it would seem like they were regular bad, but they had a... Feeling. A scary feeling. As Buffy's official dream interpreter, Giles was the first to know. </p>
<p>Buffy made a circle around the room, lighting a few strategically placed candles. When they were lit, she crouched down in front of a stone bowl. She lifted two flasks of colored sand - one a light sulfur yellow, the other a navy blue - and poured them simultaneously into the bowl, creating a neat divide between the two halves.</p>
<p>The dreams had come too fast for Buffy to tell what was even happening. She just woke with a bad taste in her mouth. Nearly every night.</p>
<p>"Are we ready?" She asked.</p>
<p>"Nearly," Giles said. "This last mark has a fiddly bit to it."</p>
<p>Buffy stood and looked over their handiwork. The circle Giles had made on the floor was rimmed on the outside with curves, the way a child might draw a sun.  In each curve was a Sumerian character. At least, he told Buffy it was a Sumerian character. The bowl sat just outside.</p>
<p>"What's the worst that could happen?"</p>
<p>"We could be turned into fish," Giles said distractedly.</p>
<p>"Pretty bad," Buffy agreed.</p>
<p>"We probably won't," Giles said, making one last scratch with the chalk. He looked over to her, the stem of his glasses between his teeth. "I'm fairly certain we won't."</p>
<p>"Your confidence is always so comforting."</p>
<p>"I try," he said. He looked the circle over one last time and closed his book, deeming it satisfactory.</p>
<p>"We ready?"</p>
<p>"I'd like to go over this one last time," Giles said. "Dream walking can be a bit difficult if both participants are not on the same page."</p>
<p>"We've done it before."</p>
<p>"Yes, but that was due to the influence of an outside power, and because we had done a spell that temporarily synched our souls completely. The four of us were closer than we had ever been before."</p>
<p>"Nuh uh. What about when Spike forgot about daylight savings time and set himself on fire?"</p>
<p>Giles sighed happily. "Yes, that was lovely."</p>
<p>"We can go over it again," Buffy said. </p>
<p>"Right. There is an incantation that I will recite. Then we sit in the circle and burn the powder. The rising smoke will tell us when our energies have aligned. Then we will get out of the circle - without breaking it - and lie in the bed. We should fall asleep quite quickly and then we should be dreaming the same dream. I'm going to hope that if it is a prophetic dream then it should override any dream I might be having."</p>
<p>"Hopefully. Though, it might be fun to see what super smart guys dream about."</p>
<p>Giles smiled in that small way he did when she complimented him. "Shall we?"</p>
<p>Buffy stepped into the circle with him. Giles sat cross-legged, and she sat with her knees bumping up against his. They held hands, her small fingers laced with his large ones, and he started the incantation, his eyes closed and his brow furrowed. He spoke so quietly she could barely hear the words, even though he was close enough to smell the fabric softener he used to wash his comfy clothes, and the last bit of cologne still lingering on his skin. He had dropped everything for her. When she'd asked about a way to share dreams, he'd found it, just a few hours after, and here they were. </p>
<p>"Thank you," she said once his eyes opened again.</p>
<p>"Of course, Buffy," he said.</p>
<p>"I'm glad we're not fish."</p>
<p>Rolling his eyes, Giles lit a stove match and touched it to the powder in the bowl. Two thin streams of smoke rose from it, a soft, dignified blue and a bright, sunny yellow. The room began to smell herby and spiced.</p>
<p>"The smoke may be slightly... Hallucinogenic."</p>
<p>"I'm still game if you are."</p>
<p>"I think I can handle myself," he said, a glint in his eye. He got that sometimes, when he remembered Ripper. Buffy doubted this was the first time he'd ever done spells with trippy smoke. </p>
<p>"What now?"</p>
<p>"The spell is sort of tuning us. Trying bring our minds together -"</p>
<p>"Like we're radios?"</p>
<p>"- more or less, I suppose. Not a bad metaphor."</p>
<p>"The spell is trying to get us on the same channel?"</p>
<p>"Yes. And we can help it along by, well, by doing this. Talking, and touching each other."</p>
<p>She glanced down to where their hands were still intertwined. Funny, it felt so natural to hold Giles' hand that she'd kind of forgot she was doing it. Following her gaze, he squeezed her hand gently, and she met his eyes. Smiling, she leaned forward, and he leaned down to meet her, resting forehead to forehead. It was simple, and easy to be affectionate with Giles in a way that Buffy had found it difficult to be with other men. Most times if she hugged a boy the wrong way, he'd start following her around like a puppy dog, or bark when she tried to walk away. Giles was different. He didn't read into things. He'd always waited for her to say the words she needed to say, instead of trying to guess from her impulses.</p>
<p>Buffy sighed, and watched the collar of Giles' t-shirt sway in the gust.</p>
<p>"So why is the smoke trippy?"</p>
<p>"Mmm" he said, his voice a soft rumble she could feel down to the tips of her toes. If she opened her eyes she could count Giles' eyelashes, silver in the candle light. "I would guess it's because it makes us more vulnerable. Tears down our walls." </p>
<p>"There aren't many," she said quietly.</p>
<p>"There's enough."</p>
<p>They were quiet for a while. Buffy listened to Giles breathe, and let her mind go blank. There had been so much lately, with her mom, and Glory, and Riley leaving. She felt the tears prick under her eyelids when she thought of Riley leaving. Everything in her felt too raw, and sharp. So many things had been thrown at her in the past few weeks that she hadn't had any time to recover.</p>
<p>"Thank you," she said.</p>
<p>"I told you, Buffy, it's no problem."</p>
<p>"For everything." For being one of the few constants in her life. For keeping things together when she couldn't. For being Giles and smelling like fabric softener and smiling at her and having such warm hands. </p>
<p>He looked to the side, and she swore she felt his lashes flutter against her cheek. "Looks like we've done it."</p>
<p>The smoke from the bowl was rising in one mossy green cloud. The smell of burnt leaves was overwhelming, but somehow not unpleasant. It had a certain comfort to it, a coziness, even. As if the air itself had been tucked around them like the softest blanket. Giles stood, slowly, leaving afterimages behind him.</p>
<p>"I think the loopy has happened," Buffy said.</p>
<p>Giles reached his hands down and took hers again. "Come, Buffy. Careful now." She stumbled a bit, but he guided her to her feet.</p>
<p>"You feel loopy?"</p>
<p>"A bit," Giles said. "You have to remember, I used to do this for fun. Now, not to step on the circle. There we are. And here."</p>
<p>It was like Buffy blinked and Giles was gesturing her into the bed next to him.</p>
<p>"Are you alright?"</p>
<p>The bed looked so small. She was too big for Giles' bed.</p>
<p>"Buffy. We can stop if you're not comfortable with this. It's not too late."</p>
<p>She swallowed hard and blinked forcefully until she felt more focused. "Giles. We did the spell and now it's bedtime."</p>
<p>He laughed in surprise. Buffy was happy to see that the loopy had also affected him. She climbed into the bed next to him and crept down until she was curled on her side, her head practically in his lap.</p>
<p>"It does help the connection if we maintain a physical proximity as we sleep," Giles yawned.</p>
<p>"Way ahead of you."</p>
<p>Giles' hand found her hair and began to stroke, gently weaving his fingers through the locks. Contented, Buffy closed her eyes. His hand shifted, and he traced his finger down the outside curve of her ear and lightly flicked the lobe, his touch migrating to her jaw. </p>
<p>"Knock it off, Giles."</p>
<p>"I'm not Giles."</p>
<p>Startled, Buffy pushed herself up and into alertness, all her former coziness replaced by a sudden panic. The man before her was Giles... Sort of. He certainly looked like Giles, but instead of the loose black T-shirt and sweats, he was wearing a tight, white T and jeans with holes in the knees. A pack of cigarettes was rolled into his right sleeve, sitting just over his bicep.</p>
<p>"You're not Giles?"</p>
<p>He smirked in a very un-Giles way. Like a predator. "No."</p>
<p>"You're... Ripper?" </p>
<p>"Don't wear it out," he said.</p>
<p>"I'm dreaming."</p>
<p>"Couldn't tell you, doll."</p>
<p>Buffy frowned. It was very weird to hear Giles call her doll. She looked around, and they were very clearly in Giles' bedroom still, but all the spell components were gone, including the circle Giles had drawn on the floor. Buffy stood, pausing to note that she wasn't in her old tracksuit pants and sleep shirt anymore, but in a pair of stiff jeans, a high necked sweater, and her long leather coat. Her hair, that had been loose before, was tucked into a ponytail at the back of her neck. A slaying outfit. </p>
<p>"Okay, we must be in the dream. I still can't remember how it goes, so we'll just have to start... Doing stuff and seeing what happens."</p>
<p>Ripper wiggled his eyebrows at her "What did you have in mind?"</p>
<p>"Cool it, Austin Powers."</p>
<p>"Who?"</p>
<p>Buffy rolled her eyes and grabbed him by his cold hand, yanking him to his feet. "Come on."</p>
<p>She marched him down the stairs, which lead into the halls of Sunnydale High. Buffy stopped dead for a moment, taking it in. The hallway was whole, even though it had been a burned out wreck the last time she'd been here. More importantly, she'd been in college for a year and a half and she was still having dreams about high school? Ridiculous.</p>
<p>"Ugh," Ripper said around the cigarette clamped between his teeth. </p>
<p>"I know," she agreed. Ripper took a long drag and flicked the ashes to the ground.</p>
<p>"Miserable place. Why'd you want to be here?"</p>
<p>"Want?" Buffy asked indignantly. "I want to see whatever is here that I'm supposed to see and I want one of us to remember what happens when we wake up so I can do whatever it is I'm supposed to do!"</p>
<p>"Okay," Ripper said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "But it's your dream, in your head. So why are we here?"</p>
<p>"I don't know! You're the dream guy, you're supposed to know stuff."</p>
<p>"That's not me, that's Giles."</p>
<p>"You're Giles!"</p>
<p>Ripper's eyes grew manically wide, and he stepped towards her. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and leaned in, until she was almost as close to him as she was to the real Giles earlier.</p>
<p>"I am not Giles," he said in a cloud of smoke.</p>
<p>Buffy scrunched her nose and waved her hand in front of her face, fanning the smoke away. "Then where is he?"</p>
<p>Ripper shrugged, backing out of Buffy's personal space. "Library?"</p>
<p>Duh. Rolling her eyes in frustration, Buffy turned away from Ripper and stomped off towards the library. Of course the real Giles would be there. She reached a fork in the hallway, in the center of which stood a road sign, with arrows pointing to the left and right.</p>
<p>Library, said the left arrow.</p>
<p>Darkness, said the right.</p>
<p>Buffy turned her head and looked down the right hall, and yep, it was darker than where she stood now. As if night fell just a few steps in. The hall itself was narrower too, and slightly twisted as it traveled away from her. It went on for what looked like forever, and just where it started to leave her sight she saw something moving, huge and black and far away.</p>
<p>"Better get Giles first," she said.</p>
<p>Ripper followed behind her as she walked, a little faster now, to the library. They each grabbed one of the doors and pushed them open together.</p>
<p>"Hello, Buffy," Giles said from behind the desk. He was dressed in one of his old tweed blazers, his glasses on and twinkling in the late sunlight fluttering in through the windows. He smiled when she locked eyes with him and she felt herself smile back.</p>
<p>"Giles," she said, stepping gratefully towards him. The door that Ripper had been holding open swung softly shut.</p>
<p>"Oh. I'm not Giles."</p>
<p>"You're not?" She stopped in confusion.</p>
<p>"I'm the Watcher," he said. "Your Watcher, as a matter of fact." </p>
<p>"You... Are?"</p>
<p>The Watcher smiled sadly. "I'm afraid so. Did you need something?"</p>
<p>"Uh, maybe you can help me." She sidled up to the desk and leaned against it, the act feeling unmistakably familiar. "What's in the darkness?"</p>
<p>"I'm not sure, but I know it's not supposed to be here. I'd look it up but…"</p>
<p>"What's wrong?"</p>
<p>The Watcher reached into his coat and pulled out a small book. He held it out where she could see. The pages were covered in scribbles, and not in a language-Buffy-didn't-understand way, but in a kindergartner's-book-report way.</p>
<p>"I can't read these," the Watcher said sadly.</p>
<p>"It's just a dream," she said, putting a hand on his. He turned his palm and threaded his cool fingers through hers. "I'm going to see what's in the darkness. Will you come with me?"</p>
<p>"Of course," the Watcher said, bringing an axe up from under the table. Buffy grinned. There was something to be said about the simple pleasure of being in her old library, with her watcher, picking a weapon out of the book cage, just like the good old days. She tucked a long dagger into her belt and a stake up her sleeve before grabbing her crossbow. The Watcher stood at the ready, fidgeting with his glasses near the door.</p>
<p>Armed more or less to the teeth, Buffy stepped out of the library doors and into the graveyard, which was in almost complete darkness. Not even the light of the moon shone through the night.</p>
<p>"It's closer now," she said.</p>
<p>"Ominous," the Watcher said, stepping out behind her. When she looked over her shoulder the library doors hung behind them in the open air.</p>
<p>"Ya think?"</p>
<p>Her crossbow at the ready, Buffy stepped forward into the Darkness. Fog swirled around her feet, because of course it did, this was a nightmare, featuring the famous California fog. The Watcher fell into step next to her, and they marched through the cemetery.</p>
<p>“Where are we headed?” she asked.</p>
<p>“Probably there,” the Watcher said, pointing into the distance. Buffy followed his finger and saw a massive shape over the trees. A massive, living shape. It was dark, but Buffy could just make out the head and shoulders of a four legged creature poking up over the tree line, making the animal roughly forty feet tall. It had spines running down the length of its back, and Buffy had a strong idea that, were it facing her, its eyes would be a glowing, blood red.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to,” she said. </p>
<p>The Watcher made a sour face at her.</p>
<p>“I didn’t say that I wasn’t going to. I'm just not going to like it.”</p>
<p>He shrugged. Buffy sighed and started towards the big scary monster thing. As they made their way across the cemetery, it never seemed to get any closer, which either meant that it was way bigger than she had initially thought, or that dream physics were at play and it was actually growing larger as they stepped towards it. Neither possibility was very appealing to her.</p>
<p>“What do you think it is?”</p>
<p>“I’m not sure,” the Watcher said.</p>
<p>“A dragon?”</p>
<p>“Your guess is as good as mine, Buffy.”</p>
<p>“Would Giles know? Actually, if you’re not Giles, what are you? Are you me pretending to be Giles?”</p>
<p>“That I actually have an idea on,” the Watcher said, brightly. “If Giles is here, then it’s possible that whatever that thing is may be preventing you from finding him, the real him, anyway. But, because the two of you are searching for each other, the beast is allowing you to meet in-in parts, actually. The human mind is difficult to replicate, so it’s unable to mimic you or Giles fully, but it can… distract you by allowing you to meet with each other through individual facets of your personalities.” </p>
<p>Buffy stopped in her tracks, swinging around to face him. “You wanna give me that one again?”</p>
<p>“I believe that I may be a part of Giles that the beast is allowing you to see so you don’t get too fussed about trying to find the rest of him,” the Watcher said impatiently. </p>
<p>“Oh. Could you take me to… <em> Giles </em> Giles?”</p>
<p>The Watcher furrowed his brow, looking puzzled. “Perhaps. I hadn’t really thought about it.”</p>
<p>“Can’t hurt to try,” Buffy said.</p>
<p>“No, I suppose not.”</p>
<p>The Watcher handed her his axe, then stood with his hands on his hips. He frowned, and closed his eyes. Buffy stared, trying to not to laugh as he started to hum in concentration. The Watcher moved his hands up to his head, touching the first two fingers of each hand to his temples, and began to hum louder.</p>
<p>“Are you trying to find Giles or contact the aliens?”</p>
<p>The Watcher opened one eye just long enough to give her a dirty look, then closed it again. Buffy, snickering, turned her back to him. In the trees, she noticed a door. The humming had stopped.</p>
<p>“Hey,” she said, looking over her shoulder. “Where does that go?”</p>
<p>The Watcher was gone. Buffy spun in a circle, scanning the trees. He was <em> gone </em> gone, no trace of him. The door was still in the tree line, however, and Buffy carefully walked towards it. It was an ordinary, white door, with a frame. There was nothing unusual about it, other than being in the woods in the middle of the night. Nothing scary at all.</p>
<p>Buffy turned the handle and stepped inside her bedroom. A moment later she stepped back out, feeling flushed and uncomfortable.</p>
<p>“Okay, Giles isn’t in there.”</p>
<p>She spotted the beast in the distance, and, brandishing the Watcher’s axe, she took several long strides towards it. </p>
<p>“It’s time,” Buffy told herself, “time to fight the big dream monster.”</p>
<p>Almost as if responding to her words, the trees seemed to grow thicker the closer she got to it. By now it loomed over her, indescribably tall and menacing. It stood on four legs, ending in hooved feet, and mountainous spikes replaced the mane of the colossal horse in the distance. It breathed smoke out through its nostrils, and it had been slowly turning to face her as she walked. Vines began to grow over her feet, trying to hold her still, and meaning that she had to yank every step out of their grasp.</p>
<p>“Come on!” she said, her legs growing tired. </p>
<p>A vine snaked its way up her calf, wrapped tight around her boot. She threw her weight into her step, hoping to free herself, but her foot would not move and she tipped, landing face down on the ground. Her body was covered in moments, the vines pulling her into a grave that had opened underneath her as she struggled. Buffy pulled the dagger from her belt and tried to hack at the foliage as it grew, but couldn’t cut fast enough. She tumbled into the grave, wrapped tighter than a mummy in a living, writhing blanket of vines.</p>
<p>Buffy hit the bottom and found herself on the floor of her dorm. The vines released, slowly, and she stretched her arms, and legs, checking to make sure that all her limbs still worked. She grimaced, feeling the soreness in her muscles from the struggle. She thought that you couldn’t feel pain in dreams. At least not most dreams. Daylight streamed in through the windows, but when Buffy looked out she could see the giant dragon-horse in the distance. When she looked down at her herself she saw that she was wearing her favorite oversized sweater and her comfiest pair of tights, her feet nestled in a pair of fuzzy slipper-socks.</p>
<p>“Trying to lull me into a false sense of security, huh?”</p>
<p>Someone knocked on her door. </p>
<p>“Who is it?” Buffy sing-songed. Quietly she stood and made her way over to her closet, where she kept her weapons.</p>
<p>“That’s a rather complicated question.”</p>
<p>“What not Giles are you?” Buffy asked, rummaging around for a knife.</p>
<p>“I think,” he said, sounding contemplative. “I think I’m the Musician?”</p>
<p>“Pass. Try harder.”</p>
<p>Another knock, harder this time. “Open up.”</p>
<p>“Ripper again?” Buffy said. She moved to Willow’s closet and grabbed one of her prized possessions, a geode, almost perfectly round and full of shimmering green crystal. </p>
<p>“Buffy,” a Giles said softly through the door. “Whatever you’re doing…”</p>
<p>“Can it,” Buffy said, and chucked the geode through her window. </p>
<p>The glass shattered and the horse beast screamed, suddenly just outside the window and screaming. Suddenly the room was dark and full of smoke, or fog, or whatever was coming from the beast’s nostrils. Buffy charged out and lept, landing on the beast’s back and driving her knife straight down between her feet and into its skin. The beast shrieked and bucked her off, but she kept her knife in her hand as she fell.</p>
<p>“Guess I can hurt you,” Buffy said with a grin.</p>
<p>The horse shrank down to horse size, still shrieking. It ran off into the trees at horse speed, and Buffy chased after it. She nearly lost it over and over, as it weaved through the trees, but she started to close in. The horse turned and ran into a cave, galloping down into The Darkness. Buffy followed, her heels clattering on the stone floor as she ran. As the cave began to narrow, the beast lost room to weave back and forth, so Buffy took the opportunity to hurl her knife at it. It hit, squarely in the beast's haunch, and it screamed an upsettingly human scream and collapsed.</p>
<p>Buffy approached it, wary. They were no longer in a natural cave, but in the candle-lit gloom of the Master's underground lair. Buffy tried very hard not to look at the pool where she had drowned, but find herself drawn to it. In the center, dressed in his black shirt and comfy sweats, lying face up, was Giles.</p>
<p>"Giles?" Buffy called, her gaze snapping back to the horse beast. It stared back, meeting her eyes with red hatred.</p>
<p>"Buffy, I can't move," Giles said. Her heart fluttered, at once elated at finding the real Giles and terrified at what the beast must be doing to him. "You are Buffy?"</p>
<p>"I'm Buffy," she confirmed.</p>
<p>"I'm Giles."</p>
<p>"I'm about to kick this thing's ass."</p>
<p>The horse-beast heard her, and snarled, smoke pouring from its mouth. It started to grow again, doubling in size as she watched it. The walls of the lair moved to accommodate it, causing the whole place to rumble.</p>
<p>"How do I kick this thing's ass?</p>
<p>"It's a Nightmare, Buffy," Giles gasped. She looked back to him and saw him beginning to sink into the pool, sputtering as the water began to cover his mouth. Without thinking, she ran to him, diving into the suddenly deep pool. His paralysis seemed to break as she touched the water and he kicked, righting himself. She tread water next to him, shivering in the cold, her heart beating in her throat. Rubble had begun to fall from the ceiling and crashed around them.</p>
<p>"Feels real to me," she said.</p>
<p>"It's a demon. It creates nightmares and feeds on the fear."</p>
<p>"So just stop being afraid, got it."</p>
<p>Giles reached out and took her hand. Despite the freezing water, it was warm. She held onto it, his large hand in her small one, like a drowning woman.</p>
<p>"What do you have to be afraid of?"</p>
<p>Buffy felt the bottom of the pool under her feet. "You're not afraid?"</p>
<p>"No," Giles said, smiling. "Because this is <em> your </em> dream."</p>
<p>The pool receded until it was only a puddle again, and the walls stopped shaking. Buffy squeezed Giles's hand in thanks.</p>
<p>"You're right," she said. The Nightmare whinnied, the size of a large horse again. She looked down and she was dry, and her knife was still in her other hand. She let her fingers slip out of Giles’ and stalked towards the Nightmare, smiling a little.</p>
<p>The horse beast snarled, sounding more like a tiger, or a vampire, than a horse.</p>
<p>“I think it’s time you galloped right out of my head,” Buffy told it. Its eyes bored into hers as she unhurriedly stepped closer, her knife held at the ready. “Saunter off.”</p>
<p>A moment of tension, where she felt the demon prepare for action. She kept her eyes locked with its eyes, her breathing even, her grip loose around her weapon. Then the Nightmare turned, and was gone.</p>
<p>“Did I do it?” Buffy asked, turning to Giles.</p>
<p>“You did it,” he said. </p>
<p>“You helped.”</p>
<p>“A bit.”</p>
<p>Giles was smiling that proud smile he gave her when she’d surprised him. Buffy wasn’t sure when the change had happened, but they were back in Giles’ bedroom. She stood in the center of the circle, and the powder in the bowl was still burning with a soft green smoke. Candles sat on every surface - the tables, the headboard, ringed around the center of the room and down the stairs. It might have been the dream, or the light, or the both, but Giles was radiant with pride and satisfaction.</p>
<p>“It’ll be morning soon.”</p>
<p>“Do we have to wake up?”</p>
<p>“I’m afraid so.”</p>
<p>He held his hand out to her, she took it and stepped delicately out of the circle. Buffy’s hair was loose again, and she nervously tucked a strand behind her ear, before settling her hands gently on Giles' chest.</p>
<p>"Now wha-"</p>
<p>Buffy's eyes snapped open. There was a thick, mushroom-y taste in her mouth, and her head was pounding. The thin light streaming through the windows hurt her eyes. She groaned, and rolled in the other direction, cuddling closer to Giles. </p>
<p>"Please don't move around so much," Giles said, sounding queasy.</p>
<p>Buffy pulled the covers over her head. "Make it less bright."</p>
<p>"I feel terrible."</p>
<p>"Duh."</p>
<p>"I think I put in too much mugwort."</p>
<p>Buffy curled into a ball at his side, listening to him mutter to himself about the preparations of this herb, that ingredient. She felt pretty terrible too, but she was young, and the slayer, so she'd probably be fine with a few more hours of sleep. In a soft, hazy twilight under the covers, Giles' warm body next to her, she smiled. </p>
<p>He had always been so easy to be around. So easy to be affectionate with. Now she knew why, even though she felt like she had known for a long time.</p>
<p>When she stepped through that door in the forest it had led to her bedroom. She had already been there, another her. The other Buffy looked like Buffy on her best day, her hair falling in a perfect wave down her back, her lips full and glossy. She was naked and her skin had none of the scars that Buffy had, because this Buffy had only ever been touched with love. Perfect Buffy straddled a man with big hands wrapped around her tiny waist. They kissed, and whispered into each other's mouths.</p>
<p>"Buffy," Giles said.</p>
<p>"I'm not Buffy," the Lover replied.</p>
<p>Buffy, the real Buffy, knew that with a thought, they could trade places, and she could be the one holding Giles, and tasting his mouth, and letting him taste her, but she had a job to do. </p>
<p>So she left.</p>
<p>And under the covers, Buffy smiled a little smile. Giles would wait until she said something, she knew. He wouldn't have to wait long.</p>
<p> </p>
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